NEW ORLEANS’S COOLEST SNACK BAR IS COMING TO AN LGD POOLSIDE THIS SUMMER
Trailblazing ice cream pop-up Rahm Haus has landed at a new home for the summer, and it’s teaming up with two other dynamic forces in New Orleans’s food and drink world to create the coolest poolside snack bar the city has ever seen. Starting Memorial Day weekend, Rahm Haus, Txow Txow Modern Pintxos, and Turning Tables are partnering on Staycation, a summertime pool party pop-up in a stunning LGD courtyard.
Thursday through Sunday at hotel and event space Margaret Place (1133 Margaret Place), Jillian Duran’s wildly-flavored ice cream will be served alongside Adam Mayer’s Basque-inspired snacks, dishes like jamon serrano sandwiches, Spanish tortillas, and chorizo smash burgers. The bar will be run by Turning Tables, a four-year-old nonprofit and training program for New Orleans’s Black and brown aspiring hospitality professionals founded by Touré Folkes. Folkes and company will serve cocktails, frozen drinks, seasonal spritzes, non-alcoholic concoctions, and THC beverages, as well as cold-brew coffee drinks during the day.
Staycation marks Rahm Haus’s first return to full-scale operations since it ended a three-year run serving out of nearby Courtyard Brewery last year. Duran has gradually returned to the pop-up world (and Courtyard Brewery) over the last few months after a stint as pastry chef at Metairie’s Garrison Kitchen and Cocktails. Now, in addition to scoops and pints of flavors like Thai tea Oreo, black garlic and honey, and strawberry yuzu sorbet, Duran will be serving cornbread and milk ice cream sandwiches, slices of ice cream cake, and baked goods during daytime hours — she’s been known to bake up whey caramel pastry cream donuts; asiago, bacon, and jalapeno pretzels; and the occasional breakfast sandwich. Duran’s freezie pops, which have included flavors like Alabama peach with smoked bourbon sugar and ginger, may also make an appearance.
Staycation will host occasional DJ nights, movie screenings, and live music, as well as a few ticketed dinners by Mayer, who has gained a following for his “high end/low-key” supper club pop-up Donostia (Mayer also operates Latke Daddy, a seasonal latke pop-up). The courtyard at Margaret Place is a beauty, a quintessential New Orleans setting that once served as Serigne Mbaye’s home base during the early days of Dakar NOLA, back when it was a pop-up dinner series.
Staycation kicks off at Margaret Place Memorial Day weekend and will run through Labor Day, open from noon to at least 10 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Admission and access to the pint-sized pool at Margaret Place during Staycation hours is free.